US embassy cable - 05KUWAIT3903

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 003903 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARPI AND IO/UNP 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/29/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, ECON, ETRD, SY, LE, KU, UNGA, UN 
SUBJECT: KUWAIT DEMARCHE DELIVERED: ISOLATING SYRIA AT THE 
UNGA; KUWAIT-LEBANON GAS DEAL CONCLUDED 
 
REF: SECSTATE 159137 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Richard LeBaron for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
Isolating Syria at the UNGA 
---------------------------- 
 
1.  (C) The Ambassador delivered reftel demarche August 30 in 
a meeting with Foreign Minister Shaykh Dr. Mohammed Sabah 
Al-Salem Al-Sabah.  He urged Kuwait to avoid playing into 
Syrian attempts to burnish its image at the UNGA, absent 
progress on key issues of regional stability.  Shaykh Dr. 
Mohammed acknowledged the U.S. request, but did not indicate 
if he would comply. 
 
Kuwait-Lebanon Gas Deal Concluded 
--------------------------------- 
 
2.  (C) Shaykh Dr. Mohammed told the Ambassador that the 
three-year gas-oil deal between Kuwait and Lebanon, signed by 
Prime Minister Shaykh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and 
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora on August 29 in Kuwait, 
would save Lebanon between 70 million and 100 million USD. 
The deal was a boon to Lebanon, which could not buy gas-oil 
at market prices since it was deemed a credit risk, the FM 
said, adding that Lebanon would no longer be at the mercy of 
the Lebanon "oil mafia."  When asked if Lebanon would receive 
oil at a concessionary price, the FM said no, but that the 
gas-oil (mazout) would be priced at international oil company 
prices, and would come from Kuwaiti plants in Europe.  The 
savings would come from eliminating middle men. 
 
3.  (C) The FM reported that PM Siniora told him during the 
PM's recent trip to Kuwait that the truck companies affected 
by Syrian border closures with Lebanon were owned primarily 
by Arabs from countries other than Lebanon, including Saudi 
Arabia, but that small produce growers in Lebanon were being 
hurt.  Shaykh Dr. Mohammed added that PM Siniora had told him 
Syria promised to lift the ban, with no time frame specified. 
 
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LEBARON